CHAPTER 11 : PRE CHRISTMAS PARTY

Third person's POV

The time has shown at four in the evening when Charlotte started cleaning up the cafe. There are still a few customers but she decided to close the cafe early today since it's Christmas Eve. She also got a party to attend which was the Christmas prom.

After a few moments, no customer was seen except the four guys that were still enjoying their time at that certain table that was placed by the window after a couple of hours.

Noel was typing his laptop away fiercely as if he should have his work done by now. On the other hand, Leon was having his AirPods in his ears and had his eyes closed, enjoying the melody that was passing through his head. Aiden was surfing through his phone, sometimes looking excited but mostly bored. Meanwhile, Ethan was focused on nothing but the outside scenery, with a sip of coffee after a certain moment, not doing anything in particular.

From the observation that Charlotte has done at her counter, she realized that they have been doing the same thing since they came. What she also noticed was the fact that Ethan liked to look around, she even caught him looking at her, not to mention that he didn't even try to cover that up, as if he did that deliberately.

Charlotte fixed her gaze at the clock that was showing half-past four. She was supposed to be home by now to prepare for everything before dusk approached. Yet, the four guests were still in their own world.

"Until when are we going to be here?", Aiden groaned while putting his phone down on the table, seeming frustrated, showing that he couldn't bear his boredom any longer.

Leon seemed unbothered while Noel kept on typing on his laptop, "Just a minute more, it's almost done"

"What are you even doing?", Aiden was certainly pissed.

Looking straight at Aiden, Noel showed his laptop screen, "Repairing?", then went straight back to his work, "Something is wrong with our security system, I think someone has gotten into it"

Ethan's facial expression shifted immediately when he heard that, "Which part?"

"Basement", Noel replied shortly, catching Leon's attention as he looked at Aiden then at Ethan, both having a serious face. As if he could read their mind, he abruptly stood up, following Aiden and Ethan that was then copied by Noel after he closed his laptop. They left without any words spoken making Charlotte confused when she saw the empty table that was being occupied just a few minutes ago.

"I was just about to ask them to leave", she mumbled as she took a small plate with leftover cakes and the cups that were almost done. She noticed a small square white case on the table. Recalling what Leon was doing just now, she knew that it was his.

She looked outside and saw no traces of the boys anymore so that she decided to return it later. After the closed sign was hung, she went back to the counter with the plates and cups. She was going to put it in the drawer but she knew this thing is costly that made her keep it in her bag. After she made sure that the door was locked, she went straight back to prepare to go to the prom.

The moment she entered her room, she took her cardigan off, leaving her white tote bag on the floor and her water bottle on the table. Soon after, the sound of running water was heard from her bathroom.

"Should go buying more shampoo later", Charlotte said to herself as she tried to squeeze the bottle.

She hummed a song as she let the water dash from the top of her head to her feet, feeling its warmth through her skin. She stopped humming when she abruptly thought about what she would do at the party since it's her first-time joining, or will there be a prom king and queen since it's a prom, or will she make some unexpected new friends that might be able to lead her into having a romantic relationship. Some other random thoughts kept on making their way to her mind.

"Indeed, showering is the best time to think about some useless thoughts", she mumbled as she turned off the shower and grabbed the cream towel that was hung by the door, covering her body.

She went out and admired her dress for a second before having those garments wrapped around her body. She braided her hair and did a simple makeup style she had learnt from videos. She then stood by the mirror to see her other self, the one that can be only seen once in a decade.

She got her white handbag and a pair of not-so-tall white heels. She headed out and made sure that she had locked the door before leaving. Taking a deep breath, she walked slowly down the stairs, afraid of making her dress dirty in case she tripped.

"Oh, hi there, Charlotte", Mrs. Hedwig greeted, "You looked exceptionally lovely this evening"

"Thank you, Mrs. Hedwig", Charlotte flashed a smile, feeling great hearing the sweet words, "Glad to hear that! I was afraid that this piece won't fit me well"

"No worries, my dear, you might be surprised to have someone's jaw-dropping for you later", Mr. Hedwig laughed.

"That would be new to me, Mr Hedwig"

They chuckled at the little conversation until Charlotte heard someone's car honking. Moving her gaze towards the source of the sound, she then bit a goodbye with the two as she went up to Chloe's car.

"Nice car"

"Well, it's rented since I was strolling the city this morning", Chloe started the engine and drove off

"No wonder, you are nowhere to be seen", Charlotte got her seatbelt done and said, "I thought you're asking for additional allowance yet you didn't come to the cafe"

"Sorry not sorry, got lots of things to be done", Chloe sped up.

"As if", Charlotte rolled her eyes and looked out by the window, enjoying the lights and some tiny Christmas tree that's been covered by white snow.

•••••••

"Darn it!", Aiden threw a knife on a wooden chair that was stood in the middle of the room until it dropped, creating a pretty loud thud on the concrete ground.

They were in the basement of Ethan's father's mansion, where they actually should be greeted by a defenseless man that was tied to the wooden chair, yet they got no one to be seen. Aiden was clearly irritated, while Noel looked around the room, as well as Leon.

"There's no trace of someone entering this room by force", Leon stood by the door frame, "So, how could he escape?"

Ethan, who was being silent the entire time, took a glance at Noel as if he demanded an explanation about the error security system he talked about before. Understanding his gaze, Noel put down his laptop on the table beside the fallen chair, "The system was turned off and I wasn't able to turn it on", Noel took the chair up and pulled out the knife, leaving a creak on it, "I think someone deliberately did that"

The other three looked at Noel as he explained, "One thing for sure is that certain person does know that Raynold was here"

"And they surely know the security system code quite well", Leon added.

"Exactly"

"But who?", Aiden questioned.

"Someone we might know", Ethan mumbled as he headed towards the door, "Let's go"

Ethan looked at the three of them with his usual poker face, "We got a party to attend"

One out of four had expected something remarkable to happen.